


Love Serving Love

by EternallyEcho



Category: Mario Tennis (Video Games), Super Mario & Related Fandoms, Super Mario Bros. (Video Games)
Genre: Character Development, Developing Relationship, F/M, Flirting, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Short & Sweet, Slow Romance, Sweet, Tennis, Trans Character, Trans Couple
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-16
Updated: 2021-03-16
Packaged: 2021-03-25 01:35:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,760
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30081489
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EternallyEcho/pseuds/EternallyEcho
Summary: Birdo was never very welcomed by the Mushroom Kingdom, for a few reasons. However, she finds a chance to turn her life around with a surprise invite to a tournament, and a friendly face that offers to help her out.
Relationships: Birdo/Yoshi (Nintendo)
Kudos: 4





	Love Serving Love

**Author's Note:**

> Hello there!
> 
> This is just a small one-shot to explore Birdo's character, as well as her relationship with Yoshi. I don't know why, but I was exploring character and relationship tags, and I noticed their pairing was very lacking. It bummed me out a bit, since they were a classic couple from when I was younger, which started with their affectionate appearance in Mario Tennis for the N64.
> 
> So, I decided to write up a little story that details it a bit, and gives a little extra character development for Birdo in particular. (Yoshi also talks, and it makes sense because Birdo can understand him regardless...don't question this.) It seemed like a pretty cute idea, so, I went for it.
> 
> Anyway, I hope you enjoy the story!

In the Mushroom Kingdom, it was considered something of honor to be included in a major event with Princess Peach, Super Mario, King Bowser, and several others. An invitation to join Mario and his friends wasn’t always available for everyone out there, as they could only ever include so many participants for sports, parties, and related activities.

That’s why Birdo was rather flabbergasted to have received such an invitation one day, inviting her to join in a tennis tournament. It wasn’t just being included that was surprising though.

There were several factors that ran against Birdo’s favor, after all.

First and foremost would be her prior history, especially in relation to both Mario and Peach. They had somehow entered the world of dreams, Subcon, which had been taken over by the proclaimed king of nightmares, Wart. Birdo had originally fallen in line under Wart’s service, with false promises of acceptance and grandeur for herself and her people.

So, when she was pit against Mario and his friends, she held few reservations, believing that she would stop them and bring glory to her people. They were able to best her rather easily, and eventually, defeated Wart and the rest of his army. Left in shambles once Wart was imprisoned in Subcon, several members of his army made a great effort to escape the world, Birdo included.

She ended up in a distant part of the Mushroom Kingdom known as the Peaceful Woods, where she barely had the time to be taken in before the forest was set into chaos by an invasion of Mario’s enemy, Wario. The only one around capable of handling him was none other than one of Mario’s allies from Subcon, a lone Toad. To repay the kindness of the creatures that helped her upon her arrival, Birdo set out to helping Toad with their new mutual foe.

Perhaps it was Toad who had Mario invite her to join the tennis tournament. But her shady past wasn’t the only problem for Birdo.

Next would be why she wanted acceptance. Birdos were a less common species for a long time, and considered very strange. Her race was a type of dinosaur, though unlike those that most were used to. Their snouts ended in funnel shapes rather than something cuter, like a round nose and a little mouth. With no clothes save for a large bow on their heads, and sharp claws protruding on their hands and feet, they certainly weren’t the friendliest looking creatures either.

Birdo as an individual held an extra distinction, however, as she wasn’t always a female for her kind. Originally, she wanted to claim a new name called Birdetta, from whatever her old name had been, and wanted to be known for her wondrous femininity above all else. Those from Subcon never saw her as such, calling her an ugly cross-dresser, which was the least harmful of the insults hurled at her. It shouldn’t have been a surprise to see her side with Wart, once he offered her a chance for something greater.

Even in the Mushroom Kingdom, having helped her people escape Subcon, Birdo still encountered resistance and contempt for her identity, though far less drastic than Subcon’s had been. She was struggling with letting herself fade into the far reaches of the vast kingdom’s lands, afraid of disappearing and being unable to do more for those that needed her.

Until now, until this invite had been sent to her.

Her efforts were rededicated to learning tennis well enough after that, and she took on the name of her kind, henceforth rechristened as Birdo once and for all. This would be perhaps her big opportunity, to enter the limelight of the Mushroom Kingdom and become someone important enough that others would pay attention to. This could be her only chance to carve her identity and secure asylum for her people at long last.

Odd to think it would come down to her ability at swinging a racket at a ball across various courts, but she wouldn’t complain.

The day prior to the introductory Star Tournament, Birdo joined several other tennis competitors for opening exhibitions. A variety of audience members, made of the more common residents in the Mushroom Kingdom, were rather quick to meet her with scorn. Koopas narrowed their gaze upon her, Toads gave perplexed expressions, the Bob-ombs stumbled upon their double takes over her, and even the Lakitus seemed eager to sink down behind their clouds when she passed. None of their comments eluded her either:

“What is _that_ thing?”

“Is that a guy or a girl?”

“Can it even breathe with that funnel?”

“Why a ribbon and nothing else?”

“Who even thought to invite that?”

Hurtful, but sadly familiar to Birdo, as such comments were gentle compared to what she had heard years prior.

Surveying the grass court of her fellow competitors, Birdo took in the limited number of players: the Mario brothers, Mario and Luigi, Princess Peach and…apparently another princess, but in yellow instead of pink…a rather large ape with a red tie, a flying Koopa, and even Toad. None of them seemed to be pushovers, and Birdo realized she would need to bring her best to the coming competitions.

Slowly looking to make her way over to Toad, Birdo stumbled a bit with her approach, while the little mushroom fellow chatted with the big ape near him. She hesitated, and glanced down to study her racket.

“Hey!”

Blinking, Birdo looked back up, and checked around. None of the other players had sought out her attention, so who—?

“Over here!”

Pivoting around, Birdo fumbled back upon finding a green dinosaur standing near her, as the fellow mirrored her reaction. They both settled after a moment, and Birdo watched as her new companion lifted his racket and rubbed behind his neck.

“Oh, sorry about that.” He smiled to her and Birdo felt her cheeks burn a bit. “I saw you looking around and wanted to help you out.” He lifted his free hand out to her. “I’m Yoshi!”

“Hi, um.” She lifted her hand, and slowly placed it into his. “I’m…Birdo.”

“Nice to meet you! In fact, you seem a lot like me!” Yoshi beamed to her. “Where do you live? Are there more like you? I come from an island with a bunch of people like me.”

“There are a number of us around,” revealed Birdo. “But…we’re a bit scattered, I suppose. Our kind would be less common around here and trying to settle in from our old home.”

“Huh, sorry to hear.” He tilted his head and nudged her racket. “But, you had to know Mario or one of the others for the tennis tournament, right?”

“Uh, somewhat.” Birdo glanced over to Toad, who still carried on with his conversation to the confused ape. “We didn’t get off to a good start, but I think after helping him, they were nice enough to give me a chance.”

“Ah, ok, well, you must have done something right for them to want you here.”

“Maybe…”

“Well, I think you seem like a pretty nice lady!” He blinked as she jumped a bit. “Oh, uh, did I say something wrong?”

“No, that’s fine, just…um.” Birdo rubbed at her arm. “Sorry, I’m not used to, uh…”

“Don’t worry about it.” He shrugged to her and softly smiled. “People don’t get it right with me most days either, but they learn in time.”

“They don’t get it right…” Her eyes widened as he chuckled. “Wait, really? You too?”

“Yep.” Yoshi patted her shoulder. “It gets easier the more they spend time with you, so, if you join around these things more often, they’ll follow along with what you tell them.”

“That’s…what I’m hoping for. That and to help my people settle here from my recognition…”

“Right, that’s your goal…” Yoshi smirked. “I can probably help with that, but you’ll need to move quick to keep up with me.” He spun his racket around. “Think you can handle that?”

“Well, I may not be the fastest, but I can keep up,” insisted Birdo, tapping her racket into her palm. “So, you better watch yourself, hon.”

“Ha, I’ll keep that in mind.” He slipped his hand into hers and pulled her closer to the main court. “Let’s volley a bit and see what we get from it.”

They separated and took opposite ends on the court. She watched as his tail swayed around, and there was an unquestionably adorable skip to his step that she found infectious. She tightened the bow on her head, ignoring the onlookers around the stands, and spiraled around to face her practice partner. He grinned to her, knocking the tennis ball around his racket, and waited as she got into position.

“To get it started, I think they call it ‘love serving love,’” Yoshi called to Birdo. “So, here’s my love serve to you!”

That wasn’t quite right…so, why did her cheeks burn…?

Birdo had little time to consider much else, as the tennis ball rocketed from Yoshi’s side of the court, and bounced once on her side. Rushing to the ball, she smacked it back across to his side.

He pivoted around to meet her shot’s topspin, and batted it back to Birdo’s end.

“Nice return!”

“You haven’t seen anything yet!”

Slicing her racket at the ball, Birdo knocked it right back across the net, as Yoshi hustled after it. He smacked it into a lob across for Birdo, and she hurried beneath the spinning ball.

Leaping up, she spiked the ball down, and Yoshi twisted around, unable to keep up. He blinked for a moment, looking back as Birdo settled, and laughed.

“I see you weren’t kidding!” He hustled over and grabbed another tennis ball. “But how long do you think you can keep up?”

“Test me and let’s find out!”

“Wow,” murmured a woman nearby, and Birdo spotted the yellow clad princess. “I think I like her.”

“You would, Daisy; she’s got confidence to match yours!”

Spotting some of her fellow tennis players lined up along the sidelines, Birdo blinked as they studied her with curiosity and…interest? Excitement? They smiled and kept their eyes shifting between her and Yoshi.

Looking back at her grinning partner, Birdo’s heart skipped a beat as he winked to her, before following through on his serve.

Chasing after the ball, she rallied it back to him, but this time, his movements were even quicker. Each time she smacked it to him, he rapidly volleyed them back.

Along with the other competitors chattering along the sidelines, Birdo listened to the gathering crowds in the stands clapping with excitement, as the audience flooded into the stadium seats. Laughing as she kept up with the rally, Birdo spotted Yoshi’s big grin, which he maintained with each swing of his racket.

Eventually, Birdo smacked a ball with enough topspin that it rocketed away from Yoshi’s pursuit, winning her the lengthy rally at last. Both of them were left panting, barely audible from the heavy applause across the stadium.

“What an exciting practice match!”

“Is she a newcomer? Pretty good so far.”

“Can you believe that she’s keeping up with Yoshi?”

Birdo blushed a bit listening to the new comments that she could hear from around her. She returned her attention to Yoshi, who bounced another tennis ball around his racket, spinning around to bounce the last toss across his tail. He caught the ball and smirked to Birdo, eying her carefully.

“Guess I still serving love to you,” he joked. Yoshi lowered his eyes. “Ready for more?”

Brushing sweat from her red cheeks, Birdo nodded, twisting her racket and lifting it once again.

It might have just been practice, but this rally definitely had her heart pumping. Definitely the volley, not the…competition…

Shaking her head, Birdo hunkered down as Yoshi tossed the ball for his next serve. She had to keep up; this was only the beginning of a new era for her people.

* * *

[Years Later]

Tossing the ball up for his last serve, Yoshi smashed the tennis ball across the court. Daisy hurried over to it, and held her racket back.

Smacking it back across, she smirked as Yoshi rushed for it. He swung back, but then lightly tapped the ball for a drop shot.

Daisy bit down as she charged for the ball, and slid across the court.

“Wow, check out Daisy’s Sabre!” The Toad announcer’s voice managed to clear the crowd’s cheering. “What an effort!”

As the ball smacked back across the court, however, it lifted high enough into the air for Yoshi to reposition himself. Backpedaling to the spot for the ball, he leapt up and spiked it down, out of reach from where Daisy was.

“Oh, that’s game! Yoshi wins!”

Smiling, Yoshi hopped up and kicked his feet as he sailed a bit through the air. He dropped down and waved around to crowd, as Daisy heaved out and lowered her head. Lifting her head, she smiled to Yoshi and shot him a thumb’s up.

“Look at him go!”

“Yoshi’s crazy fast!”

“Impressive as always!”

While Daisy walked off the court, Yoshi stretched, preparing to take off himself. He eyed the numerous different types of audience members, scanning some Yoshis and Birdos seated amid the Toads and Koopas.

“Hold on a minute, folks!” The Toad announcer got Yoshi to pause. “A letter just came in for a special exhibition challenge. Wow! For none other than Yoshi too!”

Pausing, Yoshi turned his attention to the announcer’s box, as he tilted his head.

“Ah, an old favorite is returning to our courts today! She’s excited to dedicate her debut to her people, and is looking forward to hold Yoshi to love! Bold words!”

Blinking as he stepped back, Yoshi checked the jumbotron, as the screen reset for a new match. A bright pink face replaced Daisy’s image, and Yoshi grinned upon seeing her profile load.

Settling his attention down across the court, he laughed as the crowd erupted with his challenger walking out. Birdo waved to the audience as she entered, spinning around and blowing a kiss to the cameras. She continued on towards the net, as Yoshi met her in the middle.

“They finally sent you another invite for tennis, huh?”

“Took them long enough, but yes. At least I’ve popped into other sports in the meantime.” Birdo winked to him. “Did you miss me having you chase balls across the baseline?”

“Something like that.”

“Hmm…maybe you just missed having someone like you around,” teased Birdo. “One of the few that really gets you, huh?”

“Probably more like that one,” admitted Yoshi, blushing a bit.

“Well, handsome, let’s not keep the people waiting.” She wagged her finger to him. “After all, it took us a lot of effort over the years to get them used to me.”

“It was only ever a matter of time.” He smiled. “You’re good at winning folks over.”

“Still, I do owe you.” She slid her nails against the net. “Though, that’s for after this match. Now, get ready for me, won’t you?”

Blowing an extra kiss to him, Birdo waved as Yoshi’s face flushed deeper, and she waddled back to the edge of the court. Yoshi hurried back to ready himself, as Birdo bounced the tennis ball around on her racket. She swayed her hips and swung her tail as she watched Yoshi line up across from her.

“Time for our latest exhibition match, ladies and gentlemen!” The Toad’s announcement got the audience cheering once again. “If you’re just joining us now, get ready for a good one! It’s our speedy smasher Yoshi paired up against his favorite doubles partner and our old favorite of the tennis courts: Birdo! Who will win this exciting match? Let’s find out!”

Yoshi smirked as Birdo held the ball out in front of her. She winked to him as she waved the ball around.

“How does it go again, darling? Wasn’t it love serving love?” She chuckled as Yoshi blushed and nodded. “Thought so. Well, here’s my love to you!”

Throwing her tennis ball into the air, Birdo watched Yoshi for another moment, as they made eye contact with one another.

As the ball came back down, Birdo pulled back on her racket and followed through, slamming across to Yoshi. He hurried to it and struck it back to her.

Though they’ve teamed up plenty of times over the years, nothing sparked more excitement for them than a good tennis volley.

**Author's Note:**

> Aren't they so cute and precious together?
> 
> Yoshi/Birdo is one of my nostalgic rare pairs, and while I do admit that there's very little depth to them beyond sports partners, I still think they're precious. To be fair, Nintendo never bothered to put Birdo in a Yoshi game, nor developed her in a main series game after Super Mario Bros. 2, so...yeah. She shares that misfortune with Daisy, who ironically is another doubles partner for Birdo in Mario Tennis 64! Hence her inclusion. (Daisy at least gets more love in spin-offs, but mainline canon isn't kind.)
> 
> There's also a game called Wario's Woods, which was a puzzle game for the NES and SNES. While Wario was the villain, it was actually Toad who ended up as the protagonist, and Birdo teamed up to help him out. Since Birdo debuts working as an enemy alongside Wart, and then returns as an ally in spin-off titles, I decided that she helps Toad and that's who convinces Mario and friends to give her a chance.
> 
> But of course, it's Yoshi that ends up giving Birdo the boost in popularity, which is more or less truth in fiction. I think that Birdo gained a huge boost in popularity once she was spotted snuggling cheeks with Yoshi in the title screen and key art for the Mario Tennis game, and that's where people started liking her more. So, I gave them a flirty relationship to give that depth!
> 
> Oh, and yes, I did make Yoshi a trans character in this story. Birdo is by canon, Yoshi is never mentioned to be, but I thought it would be sweeter and solidify their bond better. Plus, Birdo's signature color of choice is pink, Yoshi sometimes uses a bright blue when he doesn't use bright green, and they both have white bellies, so, trans flag. Yes, that was a reach, but are you going to argue about it? No, because it's cute.
> 
> Anyway, that's it for this one. Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoyed it. Take care!


End file.
